Tight requirements delay school building projects in E. Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY, May 25 -- Stricter rules on building quality structures serve as a major setback in the immediate completion of school building projects in Eastern Visayas, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) confirmed.

Out of 441 school building projects under the 2016 funding, only 253 have been completed, 104 are still ongoing and 85 have not yet started as of end of April 2017.

After more than a year of implementation, the DPWH regional office only posted 49.54 percent accomplishment of PHP4.12 billion worth of school building projects set by the central government last year.

“The basic requirement after super typhoon 'Yolanda' in 2013 is soil exploration. We really have to examine the foundation of where the structure will be constructed. We could not complete the building design unless the soil test is done,” said DPWH Eastern Visayas Regional Director Edgar Tabacon.

Even for the pre-construction phase of 2016 projects, the infrastructure agency only posted 88 percent accomplishment with only 358 have completed designs. 

The public works department has no soil exploration equipment in the regional office and 13 district offices, prompting them to outsource the testing job to contractors.

The soil exploration is a study of topography to get proper information about the soil and ground water condition. 

Tabacon explained that soil properties affect the design and safety of structures of a building.

The national government required the soil for each school building projects to ensure that structures will be able to withstand destructive typhoons and strong earthquakes.

Of the 441 school building projects, 16 are in Biliran, 167 in Eastern Samar, 138 in Leyte, 49 in Northern Samar, 36 in Samar, 17 in Southern Leyte, and 18 in Tacloban City.

Tabacon is optimistic that all 2016 projects will be completed within the year. (Sarwell Q. Meniano/PNA)